Welcome to Professor James Jackson who commenced late 2016. Professor Jackson came across from Boston University, a top 100 globally ranked institution (ARWU, QS), where he previously served as Associate Dean for Research and Outreach and Chair of the Department of Astronomy, and prior to that, his experience has included Assistant Director of the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica.
Professor Jackson has a PhD in Physics from MIT. His research has had longstanding association with astrophysics colleagues in Australia. Professor Jackson’s research has focussed on the formation of high-mass stars, primarily by using observations from radio and infrared telescopes. He has led three large surveys of star-forming molecular gas clouds: the Galactic Ring Survey (13-carbon monoxide), the Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz Survey (MALT 90; various molecules such as HCN, HNC, HCO+, and N2H+), and the Radio Astronomy Mid-Plane Survey (RAMPS). With his collaborators Professor Jackson has helped to establish the important role of Infrared Dark Clouds as the sites of the earliest stages of high-mass star formation.
